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CR's Mumbai boss transferred after commuters halt trains at Badlapur

The commuters started protesting after S-6 Karjat-CST local was delayed due to a technical snag at level-cross no.26 between Karjat and Bhivpuri Road and arrived at Badlapur 20 minutes behind schedule.

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Commuters block trains at Badlapur station over the delay in services on Friday
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In an unprecedented event, the divisional railway manager of Central Railway's Mumbai division, Amitabh Ojha, was transferred after huge public protests at Badlapur station in Thane disrupted suburban rail services on Friday morning.

The commuters started protesting after S-6 Karjat-CST local was delayed due to a technical snag at level-cross no.26 between Karjat and Bhivpuri Road and arrived at Badlapur 20 minutes behind schedule. They barged into the station master's office and demanded immediate action to resolve the issue.

They also jumped on tracks, stalling the movement of trains on the Central Line. The protest, which started from 05:25am, saw lines between Ambernath and Karjat coming to a halt for more than five hours. As many as 34 services were cancelled fully and 12 services were cancelled partially till 10:50am. An additional 30 special trains were run between Ambernath and CSTM/ Kalyan, Vangani and Karjat, Karjat and Khopoli for the benefit of commuters though crowding of trains continued till late afternoon.

Ojha, a 1984 batch Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers officer, has a doctorate in Information Systems from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi.

According to officials, Ojha was brought in as Mumbai DRM to oversee the transition of CR's lines between Thane and CST and the Harbour line from 1500 Volt Direct Current to 25000 Alternating Current, a project that was in the works for over a decade. However, soon after the conversion, the route used to get troubled on and off by voltage problems, leading to cancellation of trains on each occasion. The stalling of services during the monsoons, an annual feature, didn't help matters either.

"Somewhere CR's performance was going downhill and Ojha's calm and soft-spoken personality was taking the brunt. It finally led to his ouster," said an official close to Ojha.

Ravinder Goyal new DRM

Divisional Railway Manager of South East Central Railway's Bilaspur division Ravinder Goyal has been made new DRM of Mumbai division, said officials. Goyal has formerly been chief freight transportation manager of Western Railway and is an old hand with Mumbai's railway network.

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